BONUS | Matthew Kim on Books and Preaching

In this short, bonus episode of the CPT Podcast, we talk with Matthew Kim about a preaching resource that has profoundly shaped his ministry—Preaching as Reminding: Stirring Memory in an Age of Forgetfulness by Jeff Arthurs. Kim explains how the book reframes preaching as the faithful task of reminding people of what God has already said, rather than striving for novelty or cleverness. He also shares a practical sermon preparation habit—writing each sermon with one specific person in mind—which helps him communicate clearly to both mature believers and newcomers while trusting the Holy Spirit to apply God's Word to the entire congregation. 

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Transcript

Joel Lawrence 2:34

Hi, everyone. Welcome to the Center for Pastor Theologians podcast. I'm Joel Lawrence. I serve as the president of the CPT. And I've got with me today one of our esteemed fellows, Matt Kim, who uh teaches preaching and pastoral ministry at Truett Seminary in Waco. We've just finished recording a main session of the podcast where we're talking about Matt's new book called Becoming a Friendlier Church and wanted to keep him on for this bonus podcast that we've been doing of late, where we're asking folks around resources that have helped them and in thinking about preaching, form them as preachers. So, Matt, again, welcome back to the podcast. Great to have you here. And can you uh tell us about a resource that has that has helped form you as a preacher?

Matthew Kim 3:25

Yeah, and I I see new ones coming out every month on Amazon and Google Books, where I tend to scour books on preaching. Okay. And I was trying to think of you know what would be helpful for the listeners. And for me, one of the books that's been very, very helpful for me over the years is to go back to my former colleague, Jeff Arthur's book. He now left teaching at Gordon Conwell. He now is uh the chair of pastoral ministries at Dallas Seminary. And he wrote a book several years ago called Preaching as Reminding. And in this book, he's really trying to help preachers remember that the task, the weekly task and grind of preaching, or opportunity in a positive way to say, uh is really not so mind-blowing and revolutionary as we we tend to make it. Uh, it's really reminding people what God has said and being faithful in that task. Because sometimes we try to get clever, uh, we try to make up new things to sound cool or hip or um be known. But it can be as mundane and ordinary and good in that sense, uh, just to remind ourselves that preaching is reminding people what God said, and not to deviate from that, uh to embellish it, uh, but to really make sure that we're being as forthright in our proclamation to say, this is what God said. Uh I don't need to alter God's words, this is what God said, and God said it because He loves us.

Joel Lawrence 4:56

I I I love that. It's so it's so simple, it's so clear. I I think you you tap into something that that all of us preachers at some level can relate to, which is that kind of weekly pressure of all right, what's the unique thing that I'm going to deliver? What's the hook that's really gonna really gonna capture their attention? And I've I've gone, you know, looking back over my preaching life, I would say there are times I spent more time on that than I did on saying what God said in my preparation time. Like I'd give more energy to okay, what's my hook, what's my what are my stories, than I did maybe the work on the text. And I think this is a super helpful reminder that that preaching at the heart at its heart isn't isn't that complicated, and it's it's just doing what what you said, it's reminding people what God has said. So so maybe in your own practice, Matt, you can tell us a little bit about how that helps you think through the preparation process. If preaching is about telling reminding people what God has said, how how should that shape, or said in your life, maybe how has that shaped the way you think about preparation of a sermon?

Matthew Kim 6:17

Yeah. Well, for me, I I think it comes out in in two different ways and they're really opposite ways. And so I'm I'm trying to, in my weekly preparation when I was a pastor, uh, to think through, you know, some of these people in in the congregation have been Christians for 20, 30 years. Uh they they've heard many of the stories, they they understand. Um, but then there's also this group of people who've never never, you know, either I don't know their church background or they're unchurched, or they're skeptics, or they're coming in from a different experience level. And so for me, um, it's not so much reminding, but trying to be as simple as possible with my preaching to not make it more complicated than it is. And so for me, it's been this balancing act of how do I preach to disciples, and then how do I also preach to newcomers and those who are unchurched? And that can be attention, but at the same time, uh, one way I've tried to solve this issue for me, and this is a very practical tip that maybe uh some church members can or pastors can think about is I just preach to one person at a time, meaning I write the entire sermon for one person, and then the following week I'll choose a different person and write the sermon for that person. And then the Holy Spirit does the magical work of speaking into everybody's life, even though I didn't write the sermon for that person.

Joel Lawrence 7:37

And that's been the one person, you literally mean like you have in mind someone in your congregation that that you're writing it for that person. Correct.

Matthew Kim 7:47

Yes, I write it for that person, and I choose someone completely different, and then the following week I'll write write the sermon for that person.

Joel Lawrence 7:53

Huh. Yeah, that's that's fascinating. I I I found myself doing that from time to time. Like if I knew, if I felt like, okay, this passage is intersecting with someone in my congregation's life. I didn't make that a I've not made that like a a weekly practice. That would be a really interesting way to to approach it. Yeah, yeah. Well, Matt, thanks for for uh jumping on for this bit uh with us as well. Again, the book that you've recommended is Preaching as Reminding, Stirring Memory in an Age of Forgetfulness by Jeff Arthurs. And I I would be uh remiss if I don't say uh Matt has a lot of books that he's written on preaching. If you haven't read some of Matt's books, I would encourage you to uh go to Amazon and and search for Matthew Kim and pick up some of his resources as well. He's doing wonderful work to serve pastors in the church. So thank you, brother. Thanks, Joel.

Zach Wagner 8:49

Thanks for listening to today's episode of the CPT Podcast, a theology podcast for the church. If you enjoyed this episode, would you consider subscribing if you haven't already? You can also help us out by leaving a rating and especially a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening. We love hearing from listeners in this way, and it helps others find out about the show. The Pastor Theologians Podcast is a production of the Center for Pastor Theologians. You can learn more about the CPT at our website, Pastor Theologians.com. You can also find us on Facebook, YouTube, and follow us on X. This show is produced by Seth Porch and Sophia Luke. The show is recorded and edited in partnership with Glowfire Creative, and editing is done by Seth Creekmore. Hosting duties are shared by Joel Lawrence, Rae Paul, and me, Zach Wagner. Thanks for listening.